The Pumpkin Prince: The Accident after Halloween
by Trixter Dark
Summary: Young Sora was abandoned as a child and raised by Jack Skellington. Now Sixteen, he is in training to be the next Pumpkin King. However one night he gets trapped in the mortal world. You see, interdimensional travel is limited inbetween holidays. So he's stuck with loner Riku and party girl Kairi until Thanksgiving. Sora x Riku
1. This is Halloween

Greeeeetings. I've been stuck inside two days thanks to hurricane Sandy. Or "that hoe sandy" as my friend calls her. So, without further interruption, please enjoy my latest KH fic…(And I'm starting EM: Rock edition soon.)

Jack would never forget that night. It started like any other Halloween. The portal between the worlds had been opened; ghosts and ghouls poured over into the human world, scaring its residents.

Jack had reached the end of his list-he had spooked so many people and pets that he broke his record. This time he had gone so far as to blend in with a 'scare-a-thon' at one of the 'Amusement Parks'. He scared humans along with other humans, he was glad to see that they enjoyed his holiday.

Now the park was closed, the rides had all halted, and the people were all gone. He started to make his way back to the forest when he heard a strange noise. A noise that was out of place. It wasn't a howl, or the rustle of leaves, or the screeching of animals. No, it was the sound of a crying child.

Had one of the humans left a child behind? Jack walked back through the amusement park, confused. Was it just a recording? No, it sounded to real and alive, filled with fear. He followed the noise to a large Ferris wheel. It was there he found a tiny child sitting beneath it, holding his knees and sobbing.

He approached it slowly. It was small boy, with brown hair and big blue eyes. Jack stepped on twig. The child looked up and stared at him.

"Where are your parents little one?"

The child thought the question over for a moment and then cried even louder. "I d-dunno where my parents are…the-they left me here…"

A cold wind blew through the park, the child shivered.

Jack looked around, then down at the child again. He couldn't leave the boy here. No, that wasn't an option.

"Now don't you worry, and don't you cry. I'll take you somewhere safe, okay?"

The child stopped his sobbing and reached up for jack. "O-Okay." Clearly this kid had never heard of 'stranger danger'. Jack scooped the small child up into his arms. The boy couldn't be older than five. He walked into the forest and went deeper and deeper until there was nothing but trees in all directions.

Sora reached up and tapped Jack's skull. "What's you name mister?"

Jack looked down at him. "Why, I'm Jack Skellington-the pumpkin king!"

"Mister Jack, how come you gots no eyes?"

"Well little..?"

"Sora."

"Little Sora. I am a skeleton. And besides, not everyone has eyes."

"Oh."

The trees seemed to get taller and taller. Theycame to a clearing where all the trees had doors.

"What's this place mister Jack?" Sora said. "Oh, that door has a turkey! And that one has a Christmas tree!"

"A Christmas tree…" Jack had a brief flashback from older days, when he once wanted Christmas for his own. 'Perhaps I should ask Santa to find this child's parents. But first, I must get back for the festivities!'

Jack stopped in front of a door shaped like a pumpkin.

"Ooh!" Sora pointed. "What's in here?"

"My home." Jack tried to smile, but wound up giving the child a threatening look. Sora blinked at him and looked at the door again.

The pumpkin swung aside and they stepped in. After walking through what seemed like a dark tunnel, they were suddenly walking on cobble stone towards a gate of brick and iron bars. "Here it is, Guillotine square." Jack waved a hand at the area and set Sora down. "Welcome to Halloween town!"

Past the iron bars were monsters of every shape and form gathered in front of guillotine. The town's mayor stood in front of the guillotine. "Jack! You have returned!" There was cheering form the crowd.

Sora gripped Jack's pant leg tightly. "Wh-what are they?"

Jack shrugged. "The townspeople of course."

Sally stepped away from the crowd and towards them. "Jack…" She looked down at the boy. "Is that…a human child?"

Sora stepped away from Jack and towards her. "…Wow…You're pretty…"

"Well...Thank you…" Sally smiled at the boy and looked and the pumpkin king. "Jack, why did you bring a child to-"

"Welcome back Jack!" The mayor was in front of them in a flash, his less scary face on them. Sora made faces at his 'other' face. "I can see you young man."

"Ah!" Sora jumped back, then reached up to touch it. "Cool…."

"Don't touch!" Sally snapped. Sora withdrew his hand. "Jack-"

"We'll sort this out later.." The mayor looked down at Sora, then turned back to the crowd. "Let the festivities begin!" After a grand musical number and wards were given out, Jack, Sora, and Sally headed back to the Skellington house.

"That was really fun!" Sora said. He sat on a dusty chair in Jack's…er…_kitchen_. Zero wafted in, barking.

"Ooh!" Sora hopped off the chair and ran to him. "Is this your dog, mister Jack?"

"Yes." Jack chuckled. "His name is zero."

"Woooowww." Sora stuck a hand through the dog's body. "He's a ghost! Cool! Does he do tricks? Can he go invisible?"

"Jack." Sally said, he tone growing impatient. "We have to do something."

"About what?" Jack asked. Sora picked up what he thought was a furry ball the through for zero to catch. However, It turned out to be a rat and he dropped it; yelling and running into the next room.

"About the boy." Sally crossed his arms.

"Oh, but he's been having so much fun since he came here-Oh wait, I have an idea. Sora!" Jack called.

Sora slowly walked back into the room. "Yes?"

"Halloween is almost over. Why don't you go out and do some trick or treating?"

Sora cocked his head to the side and blinked. "Trick or treating?"

"Yes! Go out and collect some candy!"

"But…" Sora looked unsure. "I've never dunnit before…"

"Oh dear." Jack put a hand on shoulder. "Well, this will be your first time then. Maybe you should go with Lock, Shock-"

"I'll take him, Jack." Sally said. "And when we come back, we'll take him back to the human world."

Jack nodded. "Right…"

Sally took the boy's hand. "Come Sora. We'll make you a mask to wear."

"Okay!" Sora smiled swinging Sally's arm back and forth. Sally took Sora around the town. Sally lost him momentarily, but managed to come home before midnight.

Ever since the 'Nightmare before Christmas' accident, the Rulers of Holidays had a meeting every six months considering their holidays and the human world. These meetings led to new guidelines and rules, one being very important: That travel to the human world was closed between major holidays.

In other words, If Sora was not sent back before midnight, he would be stuck in Halloween town until Thanksgiving. And despite Sally's efforts and Jack's haste it was 12:01 when they reached the wood.

Sora stayed in the Skellington home until Thanksgiving rolled around. However, his appearance changed greatly over the short amount of time. His eyes grew wide, and his skin became pale. His canine teeth became fangs, and his limbs grew skinny like Jack's.

Jack took him to Santa in hopes that the man known to know every child could send him back. Instead, Santa was outraged.

"What have you done Jack?" His gaze shifted from the boy to the pumpkin king. "The child has strayed for too long, he is no longer completely human….he is-"

"A changeling." The doctor explained when they returned to Halloween town.

"Oh yes, very interesting. His essence has changed. He is not human, not a monster. A different breed in between."

Jack, Sally, Zero, and Sora were in the doctor's lab. The doctor's wife examined Sora while Igor circled him as if he were fresh meat.

"I'm…different?" Sora looked at his reflection in a glass beaker. "I don't _feel_ different."

"Well, FEEL again." The doctor lifted Sora's shirt in the back. "Look. you're growing wings."

"Santa said he couldn't find your family." Jack sighed. "I'm sorry, Sora."

Sora frowned. "I can't remember them…But…I remember they sent me away." Sora smiled. "So, it's okay to be with you guys now right?"

Sally looked uneasy, but put on a smile.

"Of course!" Jack gave him something between a smile and a menacing glare. "You can keep staying with us! I'll groom you to be even better than me!"

Eleven years passed.

It was Sora's sixteenth year. He sat in the graveyard, perched on top of Zero's tombstone. "Wake up Zero." The dog materialized from his tomb, barking and circling Sora. "It's time! Uncle Jack said I could go this year." He hopped off the tombstone and walked back towards town, the dog followed after him,

"This is it-My first fright! Uncle Jack said I could go to human world."

As Jack has explained, the best ghouls were allowed to visit the human world each Halloween. They would then try to scare as many people as possible before returning to Halloween town. The most frightening of all would be Pumpkin King for the next year.

Jack had started the tradition to groom a future Pumpkin King, namely Sora. Sally and Jack waited until Sora was sixteen to allow him to participate. Today it was Halloween again, and the portal was finally open. Everyone had drawn lots to enter the mortal world. Sora had come in last, so he had the least amount of time to frighten people.

He entered the forest where the 'Fright' participants stood, going into the human world at different intervals. Finally when it was his turn, Sally stood waiting for him at the portal. She had a worried look on her face, as she often did whenever Sora or Jack went somewhere.

"Be careful." She said, patting down his hair.

He smiled. "I will."

"And use your glamours!" She said, nervous. "If someone gets suspicious or-"

Sora put on his hood. "Yes, Aunt Sally." His glamours were a special power Sora had as a changeling. Whenever Sora visited other worlds, his appearance would change to fit them.

He stuck one foot in the portal. "I'll be back for the parade. See you later!"

With that he jumped in. A warm rush or air hit his face. Before he knew it he walking through a door and into the wood, but it was a different forest.

He continued to walk until the trees gave way, and he was in the middle of a suburban town. Children walked around with buckets and bags of candy, toilet paper hang from houses, and smashes eggs decorated houses.

'Wow…' Sora said, looking around. 'I'll never get over how the mortals celebrate. It's so weird.' His eyes stopped on the lawn in front of him. It had a big house, and no decorations. There was a light on, on the first floor.

'I think I found my first victim.' Sora sad with a smirk, taking off his hood and creeping towards it.

Seventeen year old Riku lay sprawled across his couch, staring at the tv. There was a marathon of scary movies on, but he wasn't too interested. Riku had never been a big fan of Halloween. When he was younger he trick-or-treated like any other kid. But after awhile he got tired of all the candy.

Then when he was a bit older, he concentrated on the "scary" stuff-the movies and urban legends. But nothing was ever scary enough. Blood never made him cringe. A ghostly wail did not make him look over his shoulder. So this year, he decided to stop caring all together.

A Alfred Hitchcock movie started and he started to doze off. A figure snuck in through the window and crept up slowly behind the couch. Sora pulled back his hood. Just as he reached to tap the boy on the shoulder, Riku turned around and yelled "BOO!"

"AHH!" Sora yelled and fell backwards onto the floor. "Ow…"

Riku peered at him from the couch. "Breaking and entering is a crime."

Sora frowned He pulled his hood on and changed his appearance to a normal boy. "Your window was open…I didn't break in."

"Entering without permission is a crime too."

"Why? I'm not one of the vampire brothers…" Sora stood up. "I can't believe you weren't scared." He frowned. "What did I do wrong? Hm…I was quiet like Jack said-"

"Do you…want something?" Riku said, standing.

"Just a sec!" Sora pulled his hood down and then took it off. He spun his head around, eyes rolling back and blood dripping out of his mouth.

"That was…" Riku blinked. "Kinda gross. But good job with the makeup."

"Oh, forget it!" Sora walked backwards towards the window, mumbling to himself. "Teenagers are harder to scare, that's what Jack said-" He flipped backwards out the window.

"What the hell?" Riku watched the boy go. Just then, he got a call on his cellphone. He rolled his eyes at the X-files theme song and answered it.

"Stop changing my ringtones Axel."

"Hey man!" He heard axel's voice, accompanied by a loud Cascada song. Are you coming to Kairi's Halloween party?"

"Nah. I saw enough underage drinking, ménage a troising, and bobbing for apples at the last one."

"Aw, come on man! You are such a grandpa!"

"Whatever man. Listen, some guy just tried to sneak into my house. Did you send him over?"

"No. What? Well, Ventus said he was gonna try scaring you again…"

"Come to think of it, I think that was Roxas! He wasn't in costume but he had this weird brown wig on-"

"Nah it can't be. He's dancing on top of Kairi's piano, dressed as a banana."

"What?" Riku shoo his head. "Anyway. I'll see you guys at school."

"Dude. Come to the party! Kairi is wearing the tiniest skirt! You need to get that memorized!"

Riku cringed. "Uh…sure…I'll drop in later, okay?"

Riku plopped back onto his couch and flipped to Disney, which was showing all their best Halloween movies back to back. Just as Hocus Pocus was ending, he stood up and grabbed his keys, heading for Kairi's house.

Like Kairi, Riku was one of the many rich kids whose parents would all gather at the house on the hill at the end of town each holiday for their own party. This left sixty percent of town's teenagers unsupervised. Which led to crazy all-nighters.

Kairi's house was a little ritzier than the rest. Instead of the standard decorations, green ooze poured from all the windows. Kairi's family had paid people to dress up as zombies and pop out whenever someone passed. The house was made to look abandoned, but it was obvious it wasn't, thanks to the strobe lights and loud music pouring out of it.

Two boys sat on the roof-Hayner and pence, throwing candy at passerby while Olette yelled at them below.

Riku rolled his eyes at them. He walked up to the porch, ignoring them until a Kit Kat bar hit him in the head. "Watch it!" He yelled.

Olette sighed. "Hey Riku. Kairi's been looking for you all night. Be careful though, I think someone spiked her cider again."

"Sure thing." Riku headed in, straight into the mess of silly string, blinking lights, and laughing people.

He found Kairi can-caning with Roxas on the piano. They were holding cups up cider and spilling it everywhere.

'Wow.' He waved at them. "Hey guys."

"Hiiii Riku!" Kairi said. She was in the tiniest skirt he ever saw. And unfortunately, he had it memorized. "You came! Enjoying the party?"

"Just dropping by…" He spotted his math teacher dancing in the corner. "So..Bye.."

"Wait Riku-"

Before Kairi could get off the piano Riku was headed through the back door.

There he found Sora on the back porch, curled up and sobbing.

"Uh…" He walked up to him. "What's the matter?"

"It's 12:03-A-And I didn't scare anyone!" Tears streamed down his face.

"So?" 'Did he lose a bet?'

Sora wiped the tears from his eyes. "I can't go home!"

"Can't go home? You out after curfew or something?'

"N-N-No…There's no way home now…It's too late!"

"You missed your bus? Where do you live?"

"I-" Sora began to cry again. "I….Uh…"

Kairi popped out onto the back porch. "Hey! There you are!" She looked down at Sora, almost tripping and flashing them. "Ohhhh heyyyy its that scary guy. Hiiii scary guy."

"I CAN'T GO HOOOOOOME!" Sora cried, rocking back and forth. "I WANNA GO HOOME-"

"Hey! Hey!" Riku sat Kairi down on the porch and closed her legs. Then he turned to Sora. "Where do live?"

"H-H-H-"

"Huh-huh-huh!" Kairi laughed. "What the heck is thaaaat."

"H-Halloween…town…"

Kairi swayed back and forth. "Halloweentown? Inn't that a Disney movie. Yeah. With Marnie. Are you Maaaaarrrrnie?"

Sora wiped his eyes. "Why are you talking like that?"

"She's drunk." Riku sat between them and closed Kairi's legs again. "And I'm Riku, the guy who's house you snuck in to."

"I'm Sora. Sora Skellington."

"Skellington? Like Skeleton? That's funny."

"Why?" Sora asked. "That's my name, and Sally's, and Jack's."

"Jack and Sally are..?"

"They raised me. Jack is the Pumpkin King. The king of Halloween!" Sora, beaming proudly.

"Cool!" Kairi said, smiling. "Are you the prince of Halloween?"

Riku shook head. "Of Sally?"

"Is my Aunt."

"Right." Riku looked up at the moon. "What a night this is turning out to be."

That's it for now. Unless chapter 2 goes up tonight. Sora's stuck in our world! What's he gonna do?!


	2. Chapter 2

2 reviews just a few hours after I uploaded it. Yay!

Chapter two: Welcome to the mortal world, try the salad!

Kairi swayed back and forth. "But wait…I remember in the last one, Marnie opened the portal between worlds…"

Sora looked confused. "Who's Marnie?"

"Okay guys." Riku sighed. "How about we take in this night air and sober up."

"Sober up?" Sora repeated.

"IIIIIII'M NOOOOOT DRUUUUUNK!" Kairi screeched.

" 'course you aren't." Riku rolled his eyes. "Now walk in a straight line."

Kairi stood, wobbled, and flashed them again. Riku pulled her down to sit on the back porch once again. "And you, the Halloween prince…"

"I'm not a prince." Sora said. "I'm a _apprentice_."

"Of course you are. What's your deal? Are you Roxas' cousin?"

"Rocks…what?" Sora shook his head. "I don't have time for this. I need to find a way back into the forest." With that he stood and left, walking into the trees behind Kairi's house.

'At least he didn't flip backwards this time.' "Get home safe!" Riku said.

Sora looked back and nodded before disappearing into the woods.

"Ooh he's mysterious." Kairi laughed.

Riku leaned over and closed her legs again. "Yep. Mysterious."

Riku stayed out with Kairi until three a.m. when her house cleared out and her parents came back.

He walked back up to his house at the other edge of town…where he found a familiar face. Sora was asleep on the lawn.

"Hey." He nudged him with his foot "Hey."

Sora mumbled something and curled into a ball.

Riku kicked him ad Sora rolled over. "Come on."

Riku pushed him towards the house. " Come on man, get up." With another sigh he pulled Sora up and dragged him into the living room and onto the couch.

"Great, there's a stranger on my sofa." He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out. There was a text message. 'Mom and Dad hopped on a plane to Bermuda. How nice of them to text me.'

He looked at Sora, shivering on the couch. "Meh. I'll kick him out tomorrow….er, later."

When Sora got up again it was eight o'clock in the morning. He yawned and looked around the living room. "Ah! It wasn't a dream."

He someone swear loudly.

Riku came running down the stairs, half dressed. "I'm late for school!"

"School…" Sora repeated. "Oh yeah, that thing."

"You're still here?" Riku said, hopping on one leg to put on his pants. "You gotta go home man."

Sora crossed his arms. "Don't rub it in. I already told you that I can't!"

"And I'm telling you, you can NOT stay here."

Sora puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "I didn't ask to be here! I woke up here!" He stood and walked towards the window. "Fine! I'm leaving!"

"Stop going through the window!"

"It's faster!" Sora replied, opening the window and jumping out.

"Oh boy…" Riku finished getting dressed and stepped outside.

A car drove up in front of his house. It was a black convertible. At the wheel was his friend's uncle, Ventus. Sitting in the passenger seat was Kairi, waving at him. "Heyyyy!" She slurred. In the back Axel and Roxas were laughing at something on Roxas's phone.

"Hi." Riku jumped into the back.

"So…" Kairi rubbed her temples. "I'm supposed to come by your house later…I have to apologize to all the kids I may have corrupted with my partying."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Oh don't worry, you haven't corrupted me."

They drove out of the neighborhood and over to Burbank academy, the local elevator school. "So Ventus, Roxas…Who's Sora?" Riku asked.

Ventus brought the car to screeching halt, causing them all to put on their seatbelts.

"What the hell Ven!" Kairi said, gripping the upholstery.

"Where did you hear that name Riku?" Ven said, breathing hard.

Roxas, Kairi, and Axel got out of the car. Riku looked at Ventus. "Well, there was this kid running around last night…"

"See me during gym." Ventus said.

Riku nodded and got out.

Ventus was their gym teacher, so Riku waited until after gym to speak with him. Gym at Burbank academy meant weight machines and a indoor track. No physical activity was actually required, so everyone walked around the large space in matching tracksuits.

Ventus and Riku took a jog around the track while they spoke.

"So I met this kid named Sora Skellington last night . He looks just like you-"

"Sora." Ventus frowned. "This better not be a joke Riku, or I'll be super pissed."

"Why would I lie about this? He broke into my house…I'm not to happy about it."

"How did he look?"

"Shaggy brown hair, big blue eyes...but like sunken in. He's skin and bones basically. Like, he hasn't eaten in years."

"Sora…" A sad look crossed Ventus's face. "Is Roxas's older brother."

Riku stopped jogging. "What?"

Ven put a hand on his shoulder and led him to his small office on the other side of the gym.

Riku sat down in the plush leather chair across from Ventus. "Explain. I mean, as far as I've always known Roxas is an only child."

"No." Ven rubbed his neck and sighed. "No, that's what my brother wanted everyone to think. You see, right after we moved back here, he had a fight with his wife. She wanted to send Sora and Roxas to Laika academy. Bro wanted to send them to Burbank. He thought he could straighten Sora out."

"Straighten him out?"

"Sora had a very big imagination when he was little. He loved to draw, and sing, and play…a very active five year old. But he had a habit of talking to stuff…making imaginary friends and telling tall tales. His mother thought he was gifted. His dad wanted him fixed. They both enrolled Sora in the school of their choice, but when the day came Bro let Sora go to Laika."

"After spending almost two months at Laika, Sora had a accident. He almost fell out of a window, running from the boogeyman. So his dad sent him to Burbank the next day. What they didn't realize was Burbank sends the kids to a amusement park on Halloween. "

"So all the kids went, but Sora was never accounted for. So when everyone left, no one looked for him. They even ignored Roxas when he said he had a brother. The teachers didn't know he had one. So after a while, Roxas got depressed and they couldn't get him to move on. So they had a hypnotist make him forget."

"Wow." Riku said. "That's…"

"Crazy I know." Ven crossed his arms. "But that's what Terra did. I haven't forgiven him." He stood. "But if the kid you saw is Sora…"

There was a knock on the office door. It was Roxas. "The period is almost over Uncle Ven."

"Alright." Ventus and Riku left the office.

After school as they drove back, Riku sat in front with Ven.

"Let me know if you see him, okay?" Ven said, as they came up to Riku house.

"Alright, I-" Riku stopped talking.

Sora was sitting on his frotn lawn, making a fire from twigs. Ventus's car rolled to a stop in front of him. Ven and Riku immediately hopped out of the car.

"What!" Sora said, looking defensive. "I didn't go in your house!"

"Sora!" Ven said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Is it really you Sora?"

"Yes…I'm me…"


	3. Chapter 3

So many nice reviews! Thank you.

Chapter 3: Reunited but it aint so good.

"Oh my God." Ven hugged him, causing Sora to squirm. Ven let go. "Do you remember me?"

"From where?" Sora asked, taking a step back. "Did you come from another world?"

"What?"

Riku pushed the two apart and took Sora aside. "Alright, listen. I found a way fro you to go home-"

"Really? But it's not a major holiday. Oh! It's dia de los muertos, but-"

"Shh! Just go with Ven and Roxas. There are some people you have to meet."

"Okay." Riku pushed him back towards Ven. "Let's go. Call Mr. and Mrs. Burton."

Roxas poked his head out of the car. "What are you guys talking about? Who is that?" The three of them looked at him. Sora squinted. "Why do you look like me?"

Roxas crossed his arms. "Why do _**you **_look like me?"

Kairi waved. "Oh hey Sora! I thought you went home?"

Ven shook his head. "Let's just go home."

After dropping Kairi and Axel home Ven drove up to the Burton manor. The Burtons lived on the house on a hill at the edge of town. They were the wealthiest of the wealthy, the elitist of the elite.

Terra William Burton was a retired baseball player who made a fortune after investing in several upstart companies. His wife, Aqua Jean Burton was a famous lawyer. They lived in the manor with their son Roxas, and Terra's brother; Ven.

Sora was quiet the whole ride. Riku kept Roxas from asking any questions. Ven drove up to the manor and led them to Terra's study, where the Burton's were waiting. Terra sat at a large desk while Aqua stood to his left.

"You better have a good excuse for calling me out of that meeting Ven."

Ven stepped aside, revealing Roxas and Sora.

"Is your long lost son a good enough reason?"

"What?" Roxas said, looking at Sora, then at his father. "But…I'm a only child-"

"Sora!" Aqua ran across the room and grabbed Sora's face. "Oh my god-Oh my god-"

"Ah!" Sora yelled. "Why you people keep grabbing me?!"

"Terra! Terra look! He has your face! It's Sora!"

Terra stood and walked over. "What?" He snatched Sora by his hair.

"Ow!" Sora tried to shove him away. "What's wrong with you people?"

"My god…Sora…" Terra and Aqua nearly crushed Sora with a hug.

"HELLO!" Roxas shouted, growing irritated. "SOMEONE EXPLAIN. NOW."

Riku, who stood in the hall, poked his head in. "I found him...kinda. Roxas, you may want to sit down."

Terra released his older son. "Let's all talk in the parlor."

They moved into a larger room. Everyone sat on couches.

Aqua refused t let go of her son, while Terra explained everything that had happened. Riku, trying to find a less awkward moment to leave, found himself sitting between a confused Roxas and a fuming Ven.

When the explanation was over, Roxas yelled: "YOU HYPNOTIZED ME?!"

"You kept blaming yourself for Sora's disappearance.." Aqua said, still clinging to Sora. Sora pushed her away. "It doesn't matter!" He stood up. "I'm not your son anymore! And I don't remember anything you just said!"

"You were only five." Terra said. "I mean, its been so long."

"Were you kidnapped Sora?" Aqua asked. "Did anyone hurt you?"

"I wasn't kidnapped!" Sora yelled.

'Here we go.' Riku thought.

"I was found by Jack! The Pumpkin King!"

"The what?" Ven asked.

"The Pumpkin King." Sora repeated. "The scariest being in all of Halloween town!"

"Say what?" Roxas said. "Uh...Me thinks my bro needs a shrink. You know, THE BROTHER YOU MADE ME FORGET."

"Jack took me back to Halloween town and raised me. In all the times he took me to this world to look I never found my parents, because you weren't looking for me."

Aqua put a hand on his shoulder. "But Sora-"

"And I don't care because I'm his apprentice now, and I'm going to be the next Pumpkin King."

Terra crossed his arms. "Even now, all these years later, you're still talking nonsense."

"Stop Terra!" Aqua snapped. "Don't bring it up again. Sora please-"

Riku put up his hands. "I think we all need to take a moment to calm down. Mister Burton, you were just reunited with your son. Roxas, they only did what they did because they though they were helping you."

" Sora, regardless of where you've been, this is where you came from. You said yourself that right now you can't go back to…there. Why don't you try spending sometime with your biological family. Now, I'm going to go, as none of this is any of my business."

Next Chapter 4: Dia de los muertos


	4. Chapter 4

The internet is such a amazing place! There are people reading this all over

Chapter 4: Dia de los muertos

Ven drove Riku home.

"Thank you Riku." Ven said as Riku got out of the car.

"Your welcome, but I didn't do anything." Riku shrugged. "He broke into my house…I just happened to be home."

"Why did he break in anyway?" Ven asked.

"He was trying to scare me. He thinks he's the prince of Halloween, remember?"

"Right…Well, see you later." Ven drove off.

Aqua showed Sora around the house while Terra tried to calm Roxas down. Sometime later Roxas came out of his room and found Aqua and Sora in the living room, looking at a photo album. Aqua looked up when he came in.

"There you are. Would you like to see some baby pictures?"

Roxas glared at her. "I thought you said most of them got burnt up."

Aqua's face fell. "Terra said that because you two always took pictures together."

Sora blinked at him. "Hello."

Roxas had no reason to be upset with Sora, so he sat next him on the couch."What're we looking at?"

"This is you and Sora at the country club… This is you and Sora on the yacht…"

After a hour, Sora tried to leave and Aqua begged him to stay for dinner.

"You look like you haven eaten in days dear." She touched his face.

"That's 'cause I haven't." Sora said. "I don't have to eat like a normal person."

"And why is that?"

"Because staying in Halloween town made me a changeling. But, I can eat. I mean, Mrs. Claus feeds me…And I eat a lot in Thanksgiving land."

"Thanksgiving land?" Roxas repeated. "Let me guess, where it's _always_ thanksgiving."

"Uh huh. All year long the natives and settlers fight. Then they put aside their differences to defeat the giant turkey."

"The turkey…is a monster?" Roxas said, confused.

"It wasn't always. It was an accident." Sora admitted. "I fed it some stuff the doctor gave me. I didn't mean to, honest!"

"Mom…" Roxas said.

"Yes?" Aqua answered.

"Call the hypnotist. And the shrink. Sora needs a session."

The Burton family gathered for dinner in the dining room.

Terra sat at the head of the table, eating quietly. Aqua sat at the other end, doing the same. Ven didn't join them. Roxas pushed his peas around. Sora looked at the food.

"What's this?" He asked, looking at Roxas.

"Beef Wellington." Roxas replied.

"Is it supposed to be pink?"

"Yeah." Roxas said. "It's rare."

"Ohhhhh. And what's this?"

"Those are truffles."

"Oh, okay. What's this?"

"Sora." Terra said. "Just what have you been eating all this time?"

"Stuff. Mostly turkey, stuffing, and gingerbread cookies."

That night Aqua set Sora up in their biggest guestroom. Roxas gave him pajamas. "Tomorrow we'll drive to the mall and buy you new clothes. We can get you new furnitutre and anything else you'd like." She seemed worried, as if he wouldn't be there in the morning. "Good night."

Sora sat on the giant bed. He didn't sleep often, but he understood it was bedtime. He put on the pajamas Roxas gave him and got into bed, forcing himself to sleep.

_"Sora… Sora…."_

Sora woke up. The window was open, wind blew the curtain around. A chill went down his spine, he could tell he wasn't alone. "Who's there?" He asked, sitting up in bed. Along the wall he saw his shadow, and that of another. "Jack!" He hopped out of bed. "It's you!"

Roxas walked down the hall towards Sora's room. "Dude...Go to sleep..." He poked his head into the room. There he saw Sora talking to something on the wall.

"How are you here Jack? Oh right, only the dead can travel on day of the dead!"

"Yes…and you found your family Sora…That's wonderful!"

"Not really." Sora said. "I don't think my father likes me that much. My mom and my brother are kinda nice…Can I come home now?"

"Oh. Sora, Santa Claus and the others were talking. They think it would be a good thing if you stayed there."

"B-But-"

"I guess if you're really unhappy, you can come back during Thanksgiving-"

"Promise?"

Jack's shadow patted Sora's on the head, and Sora's real head moved accordingly.

" I Promise. Now, chin up Sora. You might actually enjoy life in the mortal world."

"Okay…I'll see you soon Jack. On Thanksgiving!"

"Yes, Sora. Thanksgiving." Jack's shadow disappeared from the wall.

Roxas took several steps away from the doorway. 'Oh my god….He's the spawn of satan….'

That's it for today. If you like, please go check out the ebook I wrote. It's called Androngea, and its only 2.99 from Barnes and noble's.

So far Riku x Sora is in the lead here. But, we haven't seen a completely sober Kairi …If there are any holidays you want to see explored, leave them in a review or PM me. You know...like Ramadan or Hanukah...or O-bon..


	5. Chapter 5

Hello! Interesting questions are popping around in the review box. Well, hopefully this chapter will satisfy everyone. THERE WILL BE TYPOS.

I tried to make the thanksgiving mark. I really did. I finished KH:3D. They should call that game Inception: Bromance Style, a Kingdom Heart's game.

Sally stood alone outside the Skellington house. It was dark, as it always was. Jack had disappeared ages ago to find Sora. Sally didn't mean to be negative, but she didn't have much hope in Sora being successful on his first fright.

Sora and Jack had spent months planning the affair. Sora even went the extra mile and procured some mortal clothing from the mortal dump. Never in her wildest dreams did Sally think that Sora would not only fail, but also be reunited with his actual family.

Just as her worries were reaching the boiling point, Jack had returned with the news. The worst part being that Sora did not seem to happy with his new found relatives. She had always wondered what sort of people they were, and how they could leave Sora alone.

Sora was not a bad child. He was small and sweet, but just as curious as any other boy, and just as likely to get into trouble. Sally knew she could not replace his real mother, but she did her best. Besides, it was like the saying went: it takes a village to raise a child.

Jack taught Sora to scare. Sally taught him to care. The doctor taught him to ask questions. The mayor taught him he wouldn't always like the answers. Santa showed him the joys of good behavior and kindness-by rewarding him with toys.

But what would his parents show him? Would they take care of him like she and Jack did? Would they be as understanding? She did not know, and wished she could find out. But she did know who could show her. Which is why she walked through the woods, and went to Christmas town.

Sora woke up that morning a little…tired. It was a strange occurrence, as he rarely needed sleep. He rolled out of the bed and fell on the floor. "Ow…."

Standing, he wobbled slightly and held on to the bed frame. "What's wrong with me? How come I can't feel anything?" Realization hit him. "Oh! Duh! I've been walking around for the last two days. I need to fly!" He jumped as high as he could-hitting the ceiling and falling back towards the floor. "AHHHHH!-"

Luckily, he hit the bed coming back down. "What just…?" He lifted his shirt and looked in the mirror. "No wings. Where are they? Is it because of the glamours? That's never made a difference before." He closed his eyes. "Fine. I'll just switch back to normal." He tried his best to concentrate.

And nothing happened.

"What? Why? I-"

Roxas busted into the room. "Wake up loser, we're going shopping."

"Roxas…" Sora began to cry. "I can't fly Roxas!"

"Uh...No you can't Sora. Neither can any other human beings. Well, there is Iron Man*" Roxas suddenly remembered what he had seen last night. "Oh fu-" He stumbled backwards through the doorway and fell to the floor.

"Roxas?" Sora followed after him. "Are you okay?"

"No!" He waved his hand.. "Shoo! Shoo! You…demon summoner!"

"What? I've never summoned a demon…"

"I saw you talking to that thing on the wall !"

"You mean Jack? See! You saw him! I told you guys he was real."

"MOM!" Roxas yelled, crawling away. "MOM! SORA'S GONNA FEED US TO THE DEVIL!"

Sora grabbed Roxas' leg. "Now hold on a minute. I'm not feeding you to anyone."

"BUT! THAT THING-"

"That THING was Jack, the Pumpkin King, the ghoul who raised me. He promised I could come home on Thanksgiving. So I'm just gonna stay in this world until then."

"You're not going to eat us…Promise?" Roxas said, blinking.

Sora smiled. "Yes. I promise I'm only here until thanksgiving. Besides, I would never eat people. That's really gross."

"Boys!" Aqua voice could be heard. She came up the stairs and down the hall towards Sora's room. "Ah. Sora, Roxas, what are you doing? We have to leave now."

"Oh…" Roxas stood up. "But what about Breakfast?"

"We'll eat at something in the mall. Come along now."

They walked down to the garage, where Ven was waiting with their transportation.

"I thought we would take the bigger prius today." Aqua said, getting into the passenger seat. Roxas and Sora slid into the back. "Ven, take us to the Lorman Mall."

"Did you forget I'm not your driver?" Ven said, chuckling.

"Sorry." Aqua laughed.

As they drove, Sora stared out the window, watching the scenery go by.

'So many houses, so many people….'

Roxas stared at the back of his mother's head. 'Mom hasn't taken me anywhere since Junior High.' He looked at Sora, who had his face pressed up against the glass. "So, what're we gonna eat at the mall."

"Oh, I don't know, sweetheart. What do you feel like having?"

"IHOP is good." Roxas poked Sora . "Hey."

"Hm?" Sora looked away from the window.

"Do you like pancakes?" Roxas asked.

"Pancakes?" Sora repeated.

Twenty minutes and ten stacks of pancakes later, Roxas had gotten his answer. After trying one of Roxas' pancakes, Sora had decided he loved them unconditionally and ordered the unlimited set. After ten stacks the kitchen was becoming frantic, Roxas was recording the whole thing, and Aqua was in a conference call, standing outside the restaurant.

She came back to the table a moment later and found Sora guzzling Syrup while Roxas and Ventus cheered him on.

After that she kept at close watch on her children, putting her phone on vibrate and sending Ven the occasional glare. They went to all the high end shops, buying pieces here and there.

Roxas acted as Sora's personal shopper, he refused to let Aqua buy anything he didn't deem "cool". Sora found the whole ordeal confusing, but was enjoying himself nonetheless.

At noon they sat down on benches in the mall's courtyard.

About two college kid's tuitions worth of money sat in bags at their feet.

Aqua stared at the water fountain in the middle of the courtyard. "Are you having a good time Sora?"

"Hm? Oh, yes."

Roxas sat between them, texting on his cellphone, a big smirk on his face.

Someone ran up behind them and grabbed Roxas from behind. "Gotcha!"

"Ah!" Roxas, nearly jumped out of hid skin. He laughed when he saw who it was. "Give me a break, Axel."

Sora looked up at him. "Oh, hello."

Aqua sighed. "Hello there, Axel."

Roxas scooted towards his mom and Axel jumped into the empty space between Roxas and Sora.

"Hello again." Axel held out a hand. Sora reached for it. But just as he was going to shake Axel's hand he felt a hot spark.

"Ah!" Sora retracted his hand. 'What the heck was that?'

"What brings you to the mall Axel?" Roxas asked.

"Your text messages." Axel said. "That and the bus."

Axel imposed on them for lunch and a ride back to town after they finished buying things for Sora.

The next morning, Sora head a really bad headache. He wobbled down to the dining room and found his family waiting for him.

"Sora." Terra said. Sora looked at him. He hadn't even him yesterday.

"Your mother and I have been talking and...we would like you to start school soon."

"School? I've never been to school."

"You went when you were a child." Terra said. "You're telling me you haven't received any education in, er-"

"Halloween town. And no."

Terra rubbed his temples. "Not the Halloween town thing again."

"It's not a thing, it's where I've been for ten years!"

Terra stood. "I'm not going to talk to you if you're going to go on about this."

Sora frowned. "Why is it so hard for you to believe me?"

"Because I believe in what I can see." Terra said, storming off.

'Something he can see.' Sora thought. 'Something he can see…Well, I can't fly right now or shape shift, but… I can use it! The thing!' Sora closed his eyes, but felt nothing. "Huh? Where is it?"

Roxas looked up from his grits. "Well...that was all awkardy. What thing?"

"The thing." Sora repeated, annoyed. "Darn it. It's always here. Why can't I use it?"

Aqua stood and went after Terra. "Terra get back here! You're acting like a child!"

Shortly after that Roxas left to hang out with his friends. Aqua appeared again after an hour or so. She found Sora staring at the television in their home theater. "I'm sorry Sora. Are you okay?"

Sora looked away form the enormous screen. "I'm alright. It's just, Mister Burton seems like such a scowl."

Aqua smiled. "Well he does scowl often." She sat in the seat next to him. "What're we watching?"

" A scowl is a…oh never mind. The Christmas list." Sora smiled. "I like it. Roxas showed me how to use this…Netflix thing."

"Where is Roxas anyway?"

Sora shrugged. "He went out to 'hang' his friends or something."

Aqua laughed. "I think you mean hang out. But why didn't he take you with him?"

Sora shrugged again. "I dunno."

Aqua crossed her arms. "I'm going to have a talk with him when he comes back."

After Roxas returned, Aqua gave him a good talking to while Sora watched more movies. After having a talk with her husband and making a few calls, Aqua went back up to the home theater.

"Sora sweetheart, can we talk?"

Sora looked away form the screen again. "We're talking right now aren't we?"

She knew he didn't mean it a fresh way, so Aqua just sat back down next to her son. "Sora, we want you to go to school with Roxas. I know it's a big step since you didn't go before-"

"It's sounds interesting!" Sora said, smiling. "School is where human children do physical education and mathematics…and those other things they wont need to reach adulthood, right? I saw it in a movie. It was called 'Diary of a wimpy kid.' "

"Well I'm glad you're so open minded. Most teenagers aren't so open minded about school. Since you're starting a little late, one of Roxas' friends is going to tutor you. The school board told me you can take a exam to get in."

"One of Roxas' friends?"

"Yes. You already know him. Riku."

Okay. I'm going to post the next chapter tomorrow or Saturday. Not Friday. Family matter on that day.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello one and all! Sorry for the delay.

Sora went up to his bedroom. Roxas was there in his doorway. "So…Mom told you about the school thing?" Roxas' eyes were on his phone as he texted away.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Hm?"

"You saw Jack too didn't you? Why didn't you say anything?"

Roxas finally looked up from his phone. "Well, I'm still in denial about all this. Part of me thinks it was just a dream."

"But it wasn't. Why is it so easy for people to believe in Santa, but so hard for them to believe in Jack?"

"People want to believe in good things Sora. No one wants to know that there really are things living in your closet."

"Oh, Monsters like Mike have to do that. But, I did hear that they're going to start trying laughter instead of screams."

"What?"

"The Monsters that come through your closet. They're-"

"Hold up. There ARE Monsters in my closet?"

"Yes! Well, no. Y'see, the closet operates as a portal to-"

"Okay, okay. Stop. If you're gonna live here for the next two weeks or so, you have to stop talking about Halloween. Or anything out of the ordinary for that matter."

Sora crossed his arms. "Fine! But if could just use the thing, I wouldn't have to hide anything."

"The 'thing'. Of course. Anyway, Riku will be here tomorrow to tutor you after school. Then the next day you're touring Burbank."

"Riku again…"

" Riku is a really cool guy. Good grades, good looks. Except he's a little old fashioned. And practically invincible. The guy isn't afraid of anything."

"Not afraid of anything?" Sora said, worried. " Not a thing? Not Spiders, or Blood, or Clowns? Nothing?"

"Not a thing. Since elementary school it's been a neighborhood tradition to try scaring Riku all October. But nothing has ever worked."

"Hm…Maybe he's a Scowl too."

"A Scowl?"

"Yeah. A scowl is a person who can't process fear. They mess up the balance on Halloween. That's why we scare as many people as possible… to keep the holiday going. Jack told me people are getting jaded. Scowls are popping up everywhere. If no one gets scared, Halloween town will disappear."

"Sounds kinda sad." Roxas said, looking away from his phone. " I don't think Halloween is going anywhere anytime soon though."

Jack returned home to find Sally staring out the window in the kitchen. She was holding a small orange mask, the first thing she and Sora had ever made together.

"Sally…" He sighed. "Come. I found a way to see Sora."

"Sora?" Sally looked away from the window. "Really? Can we go get him?"

"We can see him, but he can't see us. We're going to use something of Santa's. It's one of the things Santa uses to watch the children throughout the year."

"Well what're we waiting for?" Sally said, full of hope. " To Christmas town!"

Jack and Sally left immediately. What they didn't know was that Lock, Shock, and Barrel had been watching them through the window.

"To Christmas town?" Lock said.

"To see Sora?" Shock asked.

"Let's go after them!" Barrel said.

Lock whistled and their walking bathtub appeared from behind the house.

The three trick or treaters got in the tub and sang: "Let's go to Christmas town, Follow Sal and Jack, But don't let them know that Big'ol Boogie's back!"

Sora decided that if he couldn't talk about Halloween, he would do his best to revoke Riku's Scowl status. Riku showed up right after school.

"Hey Sora." He found the changeling in the kitchen, shoving cookies in his mouth. "Hiff Rikuff."

Riku blinked. 'Well, at least I'm not responsible for teaching him manners.'

"So, How're things with your family?"

Sora shrugged. " Mr. Burton doesn't like me. Miss Aqua and Ven are nice. Roxas is okay too I guess."

Riku rubbed his chin. "Well, give it time. Mr. Burton doesn't like anybody at first. He didn't like me at first, but at least now he remembers my name."

Sora sighed. "I bet your parents are nice."

Riku shook his head. " They aren't all that. I hardly see them actually."

"Why?"

"My Dad is the head of the world's biggest delivery service. My Mother is the CEO of the world's biggest Toy company. I only see them around the holidays."

They walked into the foyer. Riku dropped his book bag next to the couch and sat down. Sora plopped down next to him.

"So Sora, what's the highest level of education you completed?"

"I dunno." Sora shrugged. "I didn't go to school. I just learned stuff here and there."

Riku took some papers out of a binder. "Okay. Well here's a list of things you're supposed to know by now." He handed Sora the paper. "You can read, right?"

Sora frowned. "Of course I can read! Mrs. Claus taught me how to read."

He looked at the list. "…."

"We'll start off with a quiz so I can assess what you already know."

"Okay!"

An hour later Sora had finished his first assignment and Riku was done grading it. "Okay. Your writing and mathematics are alright, but your reading comprehension and your history need work. We'll start working on those first."

Aqua took Sora to a interview with Burbank's chairman the following day. The man seemed more impressed in Sora's family than him. Sora looked around the school in awe. There were so many students, walking around in matching uniforms and learning almost nothing at all. So many emotions changing and raging around him.

That week Riku visited for after school tutoring sessions. And during those sessions, Sora tried (unsuccessfully) to scare him everyday.

"I see Roxas told you about me." Riku finally said on Thursday.

Sora had given up on cheap parlor tricks (He had no powers and therefore had no choice) and decided to hide in a closet.

"But it's not a good thing to never be scared! Mortals are supposed to get scared!"

"Why?" Riku sat on the couch and opened his backpack. "For what?"

"Mortal beings have to utilize all their emotions proportionately. That's why we have holidays, to cause ups and downs in the hearts of people. It balances out the universe."

"That...makes sense…I guess."

Sora walked into the kitchen. 'This isn't good. I have to stop Riku from being a scowl.' He opened the fridge and stared blankly at its contents.

Jack and Sally were currently in Santa's workshop. Santa Claus pulled a extra lever on one of his assembly lines, opening a secret door hidden on the wall.

He walked into the room, with Sally and Jack following closely behind. There they found a giant snow globe.

All that could be seen in the globe was snow and frost. Santa walked up to the massive structure and spoke. "Show me Sora Timothy Burton."

The snow cleared, showing Sora jumping out of a closet. Then they saw Sora talking to Riku on the couch. Santa blinked twice, as if he was seeing something he couldn't believe. "That's…"

Sora explained the importance of being scared, and then walked into the kitchen.

"It seems Sora is trying to stop that boy from being a scowl." Jack said, crossing his arms. "I didn't sense any fear when Sora jumped out of that closet."

"Sensing fear?" Sally repeated, confused.

"Yes. As a holiday being, you can sense the human emotions connected to your world. Sora can already tell that boy is lacking fear." Jack explained.

"Noel…" Santa whispered.

"Hm?" Jack blinked.

Santa Claus shook his head. "It's nothing. Sora's doing the right thing. Humans have to be balanced out. We can not allow any Scowls to exist."

The Snow globe showed Sora and Riku walking upstairs to go to the library.

"I think history books are over here." Sora said, pointing to a shelf.

"Alright. We'll start with the colonies and move forward." Riku started taking book off of the shelf.

Sora looked up. There was a book on the first voyage to America on the top shelf. The bookcase was high, reaching the ceiling. 'If I could fly, I could get that book easily. Now, it looks so far away. I wonder if I could jump that high…'

Riku, glancing through a book, did not see Sora take a step back and jump. The next thing he knew Sora was hanging off the bookshelf. "Sora! What're you doing?!"

Sora climbed to the ledge of the top shelf. The bookcase wobbled back and forth. Sora blinked, unfazed. "I'm getting a book."

"Get down from there!" Riku yelled. "You'll hurt yourself!"

"Alright." Sora shrugged and lost his footing. "Ah!"

"SORA!" Sora fell on top of him, causing Riku to trip and tumble to the floor.

"Ow…" Sora sat up on Riku's chest. "That hurt…"

Riku rubbed his forehead. "Lord. Sora you have to be more careful! What if you had fallen on the desk instead of me!?"

"I'm sorry." Sora stood. 'Why does he seem…' He reached for Riku's and felt a familiar sensation. 'Scared? Just now, Riku was scared!'

"It's alright." Riku said, taking Sora's hand and standing. He patted Sora on the head. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Uh huh." Sora nodded.

"Why can't Sora fly?" Sally asked. "Look at him…He's so…human. Is henot a changeling anymore?"

"No, Sora is definitely not human...yet." Santa said. "His body is changing, adapting to the world he's in. Depending on the events that occur before Thanksgiving, he may become mortal. Or…" He looked at Jack. "He may become a monster."

Unbeknownst to Santa, Sally, and Jack, Boogie's little henchmen were eavesdropping.


	7. Chapter 7

My computer spell checks me when I write "Boogie" but not Sora. What.

_Sora woke up. It was naptime again at Laika. All the other children were asleep on the floor, in matching sleeping bags. The teacher had left the room. He could hear her talking in the hallway. Sora sat up in his sleeping bag. He had done it again. He had gone to sleep._

_He had not been afraid of sleeping before. In his dreams, he would meet wonderful creatures and go to exciting places. That is, until IT showed up._

_Oogie Boogie, the boogeyman. The first time Sora saw Boogie he had been wandering in his sleep, following the strange animals he always met in his dreams._

_Just as he was chasing a purple cat across a cloud, he came across a door. It was white and had stained glass panes on it, like the type he had seen at the town church. The door was slightly a jar. The six legged cat walked in and he followed, curious. "Wait Necho!" He ran straight in, finding himself in total darkness._

_He looked around, but could not find the door. Afraid, he began to run. "Necho! Hello? Necho!" Sora ran until he hit something. Hard. Stumbling backwards, he looked up and felt the object, realizing it was another door. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it. Here, he found a giant sack. _

_The 'Sack ' was not a sack at all. It was standing and moving, mumbling and groaning. Finally it turned around completely, and Sora saw that it had holes cut like eyes and a mouth. "Oh hoo! A door!" The 'sack' smiled. "And who are you, little thing?"_

"_S-Sora…Sora Burton."_

"_Well S-S-SORA.." It laughed. "Congratulations!"_

"_Huh?"_

"_You have opened a door- A way to leave the darkness! Do you know what that means?"_

"_Uh…No."_

"_It means I get to go back-And you get to be my snack."_

_Before Sora could move Boogie was hovering him over him and reaching for his face. "Now hold still for Boogie!""AHHH!" Sora screamed and the purple cat was back again. It ran between them and Sora grabbed onto it, going back through the door. "Necho! Run Necho!"_

_The six legged animal took Sora through the second door. Despite the cat's efforts, Sora could hear Boogie laughing._

"_RUN CHILD, AS FAST AS YOU CAN-"_

_Sora held on tighter._

"_YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME, THE BOOGIE MAN!"_

"HELP!" Sora yelled, waking form his dream. "Help…" His heart was pounding like a hammer in his chest. "Boogie…" He said, breathlessly. "I remember Boogie…" His head throbbed. He couldn't just remember Boogie. He could remember kindergarten. He could remember finger painting. He remembered his Mother reading to him, his Father holding him, playing with Ven and Roxas-

"OW!" Sora clutched his head. The memories were coming back too quickly. "OW! STOP! STOP-STOP-STOP-"

His door opened. Roxas peeped his head in. "Sora?"

Sora was in bed, rocking back in forth, still holding his head. "Stop it…Stop it…"

"Woah…" Roxas took a step back. "Hang on I'll get Mo-" He remembered that Aqua had left early for a conference. "UNCLE VEN!" He yelled, running down the hall. Ventus lived in the small guest house. "UNCLE VEN!" He almost fell down the stairs and crashed into his father.

"What happened?" Terra asked, holding him by the shoulders.

"Sora's freaking out!"

Terra followed his son back up to Sora's room. There Sora was, crying an holding his head.

"Sora." Terra strode across the room and placed a hand on Sora's head. "Don't worry, it's alright now." He sat on the edge of the bed.

"It hurts." Sora cried.

Terra pulled him into a hug. "Shh."

"Daddy…Help…The Boogie man-"

He patted down Sora's hair. "Don't worry. He's not going to get you, I promise."

That morning Ven drove Roxas and his friends to school once again. When they picked Riku up, Roxas told him about Sora.

"So..Um…" Roxas began.

Riku sat in the front. "Hm?"

"You don't have to come over today."

'Just when we were making progress?' "Why?" Riku asked.

"Sora's not feeling well." Ventus said, staring ahead.

"What happened?' Kairi asked, looking concerned.

"He's…er…" Roxas searched for the right words. "Not okay…right now."

"Can we see him after school?" Kairi said. "O wanted a reason to come see him anyway."

"I don't know…" Roxas said, remembering Sora's crying. "We'll see."

Roxas and Ven returned home right after school. Ven drove back to school right after, as he was acting as the basketball coach.

"Hello?" Roxas called as he stepped into the foyer. "Sora? Dad? Anyone home?"

As a child he was used to the house being empty. He had spent more time with Ventus than he had with his own parents. However unlike during his childhood, Ventus now had a job, and he had been deemed old enough to take are of himself.

His large house never felt like much of a 'home' to him. On television most of the families lived in small, modest houses and saw each other everyday. He wasn't upset with his parents never being around…He had enough friends and material possessions to occupy his time. He had to thank them for never noticing him. When he was in elementary school. he had actually wanted their attention, and went to great lengths to get it. After befriending Lea Daniel "Axel" Elfman, the class clown, he found a new way to get his parents to look at him.

"Make mistakes." Axel had told him. "Drop things. Get sick. Pick fights at school. They'll notice you, trust me."

These actions did not get his parents to so much as bat an eyelash. Most of the time Ventus would find out first, reprimand him, and try to figure out how to solve his problems. He loved Ventus for that. If his father ever found out, he would tell Roxas to "get his act together or go to military school". His mother would try to talk to him for at least thirty minutes, before some high profile client would call and make her forget all about Roxas.

For a moment, when high school started, he considered becoming a alcoholic. Luckily before that happened, he befriended Kairi and Hayner, which kept him relatively sober. His friends' parents were on good terms with his parents. Despite the lack of contact, he was beginning to accept the relationship he had with Aqua and Terra.

And now Sora was here. It was like all his old wounds were opening back up. Sora, the brother he had been forced to forget. Looking back he could remember fragments here and there of things that didn't add up. When he friends showed up two hours after school Axel confided these feeling in Axel.

Riku and Kairi headed immediately to Sora's room while Axel and Roxas stood in the hall.

Sora was still in bed, reading a book. "Oh, hello."

"Hi Sora!" Kairi held up a basket. "I brought you a get well gift. I didn't know what you give you. so I googled."

"Oh…Thanks…I think." Sora scratched his head. "It looks nice."

Riku gave a short wave. "Hey."

Sora nodded. "Hi."

In the hall Roxas was still talking with Axel.

"You alright?" Axel asked.

"Of course I am." Roxas replied. "I'm not the one who's sick."

"You don't have to be sick to be….unwell."

Roxas looked towards Sora's doorway. "I just…I'm not mad or sad. I'm uh-"

"Jealous?" Axel offered. "Because your long last brother's getting so much attention?"

Roxas was flabbergasted. "What-no-geez…What're you saying? I wouldn't say jealous…"

"You should be more honest." Axel said. "No one would blame you. I mean, when was the last time your parent stayed home to watch after you?"

Terra was upstairs in his study, taking a day off in case Sora needed him again.

"And you said you Dad actually hugged him? I've never even seen your Dad touch your Mom…I used to think you were a science experiment or something."

Roxas laughed. "Yeah, they aren't the most affectionate."

Axel shrugged. "Soo~" He nudged him.

Roxas chuckled. "Okay! I admit I'm not all that happy. Satisfied?"

"Somewhat." Axel said, crossing his arms. "Now tell me why."

" 'Cause Mom and Dad are acting like they care for once."

"Long lost sons will do that." Axel replied.

"But I'm not upset with Sora." Roxas said. "I can't be…It's not his fault."

"That's not the first told me that." Axel said, looking him in the eye. "Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?"

Riku stepped out of Sora's room, passing Roxas and Axel in hallway. He gave them both a brief nod before heading downstairs.

"He even got Riku to come here." Roxas mumbled. "I could never get Riku over here to hang out."

Axel shrugged. "Riku was never the hanging type."

Kairi sat on the edge of the bed. "Riku's so nice."

Sora said. "Yup. I didn't really want that cup of tea, but he's getting it for me anyway."

"He's always been that way." Kairi said, smiling. "That's probably why I like him so much. Oh Gob don't tell him I like him, okay?!"

Sora blinked. "Oh, you _like him_, like him?"

Kairi blushed. "Ah!" She looked towards the doorway. Riku was still downstairs, while Axel and Roxas had moved further down the hall. "Well, yeah."

"Does he know?" Sora asked.

"I dunno. I think it's obvious. Even so, I try to get his attention…"

Sora frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Kairi sighed. "Skimpy outfits, party invites, you know the usual. But Riku doesn't go for that stuff. I wonder what his deal is?"

Sora nodded. "Mmhm…Well Aphrodi-I mean…" He paused. "I have a friend, she's this well known relationship advisor…and uh, she told me once that when it comes to crushes you should be as natural as possible around them. Putting on a act just sets you up for failure."

"Really? Who's your friend? Is she famous?"

"Oh yeah, really famous. She's set up a lot of big couples over the years."

Elsewhere Sally and Jack had traveled back to Halloween town.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel followed them back through the hinterlands to Halloween town. Zero wafted around their legs as they walked.

"Now that we've had a look, I'm a bit more worried about Sora." Jack admitted.

"A bit?" Sally replied. "What if Sora becomes something completely different? What if…he becomes a dark side?"

Jack frowned. "I don't think Sora would be that wrapped in darkness. The people around him would have to be practically heartless. Besides, we knew the day would come when Sora became a different kind of being. Changelings undergo a partial "change" once they reach maturity. Part of them becomes something found in the world they live in. Sora's going to lose more of his humanity in Halloween town. He might become intangible, like a ghost. He may

grow hair and be a werewolf. Only time will tell."

Just as Jack and Sally reached their the door, the mischevious trio passed by, giggling.

"What are you three up to?" Jack asked.

"Oh, nothing Jack." Shock laughed.

The tub continued its journey to the outskirts of town, back to boogie's old hangout. There, in the dark remanants of the boogeyman's were pieces of a familair burlap sack, covered in wriggling bugs. Several of the insects sewed the sack parts together, forming a worn looking-but still scary Oogie Boogie.

"You three better have bad news." Boogie said.

"The worst." Lock chuckled.

"It's horrible." Barrel added.

"They found the pumpkin prince." Shock said.

"Oh." Boogie smiled. "That is bad."

Okay. Not sure how clear that was, but the 'Necho' was a Necho cat. A dream eater. We're almost atThanksigiving! Hurrya! And dont' worry, I have somethingbig planned for Christmas? Can you guess what it is?


	8. DIVIIIDIINGU DRIVAHHH

DIIIIIIIIIVIDINGU DRIVAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (I found gaogaigar on youtube dont judge me.)

Roxas woke up the next morning refreshed. Talking with Axel always seemed to make things better. He felt as if he could look at Sora with feeling having any hard feelings.

As if the cosmos wanted to reward him for his efforts, Roxas received a phone call form Hayner the minute he woke up. He rolled around in his four poster bed and reached for the phone on his mahogany bed stand.

"Hello?"

"ROXAS!" Hayner hollered, making Roxas groan and sit up in bed.

"…The hell…Hayner, some of us are not morning people."

"Whatever. Listen! Listen! I got tickets to that concert!"

"What concert?"

"The Moogles!"

"WHAT?!" Roxas yelled. "The Moogles? THE MOOGLES?"

"Yeah!" Hayner yelled, laughing.

"What day, what time?"

"Your parent's anniversary of course. This weekend! So they'll be out of town-"

"And _we'll_ be out of town. Two day trip bro?"

"Oh, well…" In all honesty, Hayner's parents were not as well off as Roxas'

"If I can manage it.."

Roxas laughed. "No problem bro. Since you got the tickets, I'll get the hotel room."

"Awesome! But listen, honest opinion, who should be our third? Axel or Pence?"

"Well Pence tends to freak out when we miss school. But when Axel's around, something always catches fire. Tough decision."

That evening Roxas decided to break the news to Sora.

"So, um…I'm going away for the weekend."

"Yeah?" Sora replied. They were sitting on Sora's bed. "Okay. What're you gonna do?""Go on a trip with my friends. We're going to a concert."

"That sounds cool!" Sora beamed. "I hope you have fun!"

"Why don't you take Sora with you?"

Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin. Terra and Ventus were standing in Sora's doorway. Terra stood with his arms crossed. "Since you're going away and all."

"Dad…" Roxas panicked.

"You know Aqua and I are going off for the weekend, and Ventus is attending a convention. You were just going to leave Sora here by himself?"

"No." Roxas replied.

"So you know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"That I should stay here…With Sora. It's fine…I should've asked, anyway."

He sighed, looking at his brother. "Looks like I won't be going anywhere this weekend." Bitter disappointment filled him. "But that's alright…"

"I'll be here…with you." 'Just when I thought things were getting good. It's not fair. Now I have to be here all weekend and-'

Sora looked at him as if he had two heads. "No."

"What?"

"You're not okay with it." Sora frowned. "You're lying."

Roxas was startled. "I'm not."

"Liar!" Sora hopped off the bed. "Stop lying! You don't wanna be here with me!"

"I didn't say that." Roxas said, looking nervous. "I didn't-""You don't have to say it!" Sora yelled. "Just go to your concert! I don't care!"

He stormed past his uncle and father grumbling.

"Sora!" Ventus called. "Wait, were are you going?"

"Riku's house!" Sora yelled back, sliding down the staircase.

Riku's Mother had some sort of meeting and Riku's father had some sort of something else at the moment so as usual, he was alone. This happened every year, around the holidays. People needed toys, and they needed things to be delivered.

Like Roxas, Riku had gotten used to his 'Lack of parental supervision'. But, while Roxas acted out, Riku did the opposite. He let himself disappear. He had started with accepting his parents, and then everything else. Going through the motions, making friends with the children of his parents' friends. At school he excelled because he was one of the few that actually paid attention and in turn, his teacher paid attention to him.

So as he sat alone on the couch, he continued to study, for those who appeared to care about him. He was only slightly surprised when he saw Sora entering his house through the window again. He had left the window only slightly ajar, meaning Sora had to open it more and hold on to the house to support himself.

"What did I tell you about windows?" Riku said, opening the window more and reaching for Sora's hand. Sora smiled and took it as Riku pulled him inside.

"You never close your window." Sora retorted, "So you don't appear too upset."

Riku chuckled. "You got me. I was just making some Hot Chocolate. Want some?"

"Yes please!" Sora answered.

Riku walked into the kitchen just as the tea kettle was going off. Sora, sat down on the couch, not knowing what else to do. Riku retuned in seconds with two seaming mugs of Chocolate. "That reminds me…My Grandmother sent me some cookies…Want some?"

Sora took one mug. "Yes please."

"You're awfully polite, you know." Riku said, setting his mug down on the table.

"Mrs. Claus said manners are important." Sora said, blowing on the hot liquid.

"I bet Mrs. Burton would say the same thing." Riku replied. "What brings you here anyway?"

"Oh…I kinda need a place to stay for the weekend. My parents don't think I can watch myself."

"Hm…Well you are, what? Seventeen?"

"I think so."

"Well most of the teenagers in town aren't allowed to watch themselves. Where's Roxas going to be?"

Sora explained what had happened. "He should go."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"Well, that's what he really wants." Sora had felt Roxas' emotions then. He hadn't meant to do it, but he could tell Roxas would have been unhappy with him all weekend. "If I never came here, he would've went anyway right?"

"I suppose so." Riku walked into the kitchen and retrieved the cookies.

"You can stay here, since my parents won't be back anytime soon."

"Yours too?" Sora said as Riku the tin. "I feel like I'm on the island of lost boys."

"Don't tell you've been to Neverland too?"

"No, but I've heard of it."

Sora spent the weekend at Riku's watching a ridiculous amount of holiday movies on cable and eating from the overstocked pantry.

Sunday afternoon they were watching 'Holiday in Handcuffs' when Sora asked, "Why aren't there any Thanksgiving movies?"

"Thanksgiving doesn't 'sell' as much Christmas." Riku said. "With Christmas you can sell toys, vacations, a whole new lifestyle. Thanksgiving is only good for food sales."

"That's a sad way of looking at it." Sora said, watch Melissa John Hart have a meltdown in a diner.

"That's what my parents said." Riku said. "They're never home for either holiday. If I'm lucky they're home on Christmas morning or afternoon. They're perfectionists, so they rarely leave their offices."

"That's…even sadder."

"Not really." Riku watched Melissa drag Mario Lopez into her car. "I'm a lot better off than a lot of kids out there. Some people don't even have parents. I can't complain."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself."

"Maybe I am."

Ventus showed up that evening to bring Sora back home.

"Did you have a fun time?" Ventus asked as they drove back home.

"Yeah." Sora replied.

"So the Pumpkin Prince is back in his own world?" Boogie laughed. "That's almost too perfect."  
"Why boss?" Shock asked. "I though you wanted him?"  
"Oh I do." Boogie replied. "It may seem like he's out of my reach but the mortal world will mold him much better. Sora's spent so much time between Christmas and Halloween that his heart is too pure. In his world he'll get drowned by other people's emotions. In that world it's almost Thanksgiving. The first of the three big enders."  
"Big enders?" Barrel asked.  
"The last big holidays of the year idiot!" Shock said.  
"That's right." Boogie said, rolling a pair of dice on the floor. "It's at this time the humans get frantic. Sora will probably go through his change right before Thanksgiving. The darkness will take him-he'll destroy everything around him. He won't have a friend left in any world. And that's when you'll get him."

A thousand pardons. I'm typing as fast as possible.


	9. The Accident before Thanksgiving

This fic is officallly Sora x Riku. Don't be mad, my SoKai peeps. This first story arc (yes, there'll be a second) doesn't have a concrete couple. Please stay aroudn for the end...Pretty please?

I get the feeling some of you are wondering why there's so much focus on everyone around Sora, and not much mention of Jack or Boogie. Don't worry, they'll be taking over very soon.

Roxas showed up a few hours later. He snuck into the house through the servant's entrance and crept up the stairs to his room. Just as he reached his room, he heard a voice. "Hey."

"Ah!" Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin. "Sora!"

"Shh!" Sora said. "Mister and Misses Burton are asleep."

"You know they're your parents right?"

"I know…But it's still weird. Did you enjoy your concert?"

"Yeah! Uh…" Roxas held up a t-shirt. "I got you something."

"Huh?" Sora took the shirt. "Thanks!"

"So uh…I'm sorry about before. I guess I was a little mad about staying home."

"I understand. I could tell you really wanted to go. I was just mad that you weren't being honest with ."

"Dad." Roxas corrected.

"D-Dad." Sora said, bashfully. " I know I should call him that, but there memories are still a little fuzzy….Anyway, good night Roxas. You have school in the morning."

"So do you! Well, kinda."

That Monday, it was visitor's day at Burbank. Potential students and faculty were allowed to sit in on classes and walk around the campus. Between classes Roxas tried his best to introduce Sora to his friends and pass his brother off as normal. Sora was happy to meet them, yet not very pleased. Something about the building made him feel ill. He recalled not feeling too good on his first visit, but it felt as if whatever had bothered him last time had now intensified.

Out of respect he was trying not to read the emotions of others, something he had been told not to do many times. In the past few days, it seemed as if he was doing it unconsciously. During the first class, he could feel the nervous tension in the room. He could tell which students were paying attention and which didn't care to be there at all.

Once they entered the main hall, the feelings converges on him like a tidal wave. Too many emotions swirled through the building and before Sora knew what he was doing he was running, trying to get away from them.

Sora stopped when he found himself in the school's library. It was large and three floors, but very few people were around. He zipped down his white and black hoodie, revealing his visitor's pass, and walked further into the place.

As it was a visitor day, all students were required to wear their uniforms- A burgundy sweater vest, striped tie and beige slacks. Fashion had not been taken into account when the uniforms were designed. Even so, it made it easier to differentiate them from visitors.

Sora stopped walking when he found himself in the history section and saw Riku sitting in the corner. The teen was surrounded by books and didn't look up as Sora approached. "You want something?" Riku said turning a page.

'He doesn't know who I am yet…perfect!' Sora put his hood on and jumped in front of Riku with a wooden stake. Riku looked up then. "Stop that Sora, a guard might see you."

Sora took off his hood, looking defeated. "One day Riku…One day."

"Mmhmm…" Riku closed his book. "You left your tour?"

"I didn't mean to." Sora said looking around. "It's just very painful out there. It's a lot calmer in here."

"Painful? What do you mean?"

"Are humans your age always so...Miserable? Angry? Apathetic? They're weird."

"They're teenagers." Riku said, running a hand through his hair. "They're always that way. Hormonal imbalance, puberty, television. All the above are the cause."

"Oh. What a scary combination." Sora shivered. "It's very suffocating."

"You're a empath all of a sudden?"

"Huh?"

" You know, a person who senses other people's emotions?"

"Never heard of that. I just know that holiday being scan sense feelings because holidays exist to even out the emotions of mortals and shape them into good people."

"….Uh huh…"

"There you are!" Kairi appeared. "You disappeared Sora, you-" She looked at Riku. "Oh…Hi Riku…" She grabbed Sora's arm. "Come on! It's almost time for lunch!"

She dragged him back to the classroom just as class was ending. Then Roxas pulled him aside when the bell rang. "Sora, you can't be acting all weird at school. Now, in a effort to save your nonexistent reputation, I'm going to introduce you to my friends, and have you sit with us during lunch."

Sora looked passed him to the group of teenagers straggling behind that appeared to be his 'friends'. They chatted idly all the way to the large cafeteria, filling Sora's head with unimportant drabble. Jus as they were going to sit, Sora spotted a table of strangely happy individuals, reading comic books and playing video games.

'They seem kinda fun…' Sora was wandering towards them before he knew it. Roxas gave him a sharp tug on the arm. "Sora! Where you going? You have to sit with us!"

"Oh." Sora looked back at Roxas' table. "Well, no offense Roxas but…" He leaned close to his younger brother and whispered. "You're friend are kinda boring."

Roxas, taken aback, sputtered a "F-fine then…" And walked back to his table. Halfway through the period he glanced over to where Sora had gone. The table know had a strange array of Nerds, Goths, and jocks with Sora at the center.

"So there I was, in Thanksgiving land and the natives and the settlers were attacking the giant turkey…It had eaten to wigwams and smashed four houses. I prayed for victory with the warriors and used the mayor's axe to cut the turkey open. Took me like, four swings."

"Whoa…"

Roxas shrugged. "Well, I guess he's okay after all."

When they returned home from school, Roxas and Sora played basketball with Ventus. After an hour or so he sent them back to the main house so Roxas could do his homework. The bell rang, and Roxas headed to the door.

"Who's there?" Roxas said over the intercom, he could see their visitor through the monitor. It was a bald tan man with golden eyes. He was hunched slightly and wearing a suit that was a little too big.

"My name is Dr. Norton. I was hired by Mr. Burton to see about his son, Sora Burton." The man's voice was scratchy and gruff.

Roxas frowned. ' Dad didn't tell me about any shrink.' "Hey Sora!"

"Yeah?" Sora said, running into the entryway.

"Did Dad get you a shrink?"

"I don't think so."

"Sorry man." Roxas said into the intercom. "Call Mr. Burton and come back."

"May I come in to make a phone call then?"

As innocent as it sounded, Roxas was still wary. "Sorry no strangers allowed."

"Please?"

"Have a nice day bro." Roxas walked away. "UNCLE VENNNN!" He walked back to the guesthouse. "UNCLE VENNNN!"

Ventus greeted him at the door. "What's the yelling about?"

"Some weirdo was at the door. Said he was hired by Dad to fix Sora."

"As far as I know, he didn't. You didn't let the guy in, right?"

"Nope. He was a total fruitcake."

"Good.I'll tell Terra."

That night Terra and Aqua announced they were going ahead with their holiday neutral party the night before Thanksgiving.

They were sitting in the dining room when the announcement was made. Dinner was taking a while, so Terra walked to the kitchen to find out what the problem was. Sora followed after him. Since Thanksgiving was right around he figured he should try to spend more time with all the Burtons. The 'Boogie nightmare' had caused him to remember random events from his childhood. However, they seemed more like dreams that memories, as whenever he tried to remember the visions slipped away.

The cooks were hastily preparing the meal. Terra looked from them to his son.

"Now Sora, I'm inviting my partners over to this dinner party. You must not make a scene-"

"Partners? You mean like domestic partners?" Sora gasped. "Does Miss Aqua know about them? Are you cheating on her?! You better not-"

"I am not romantically involved with my partners!" Terra yelled, just as Aqua walked into the room. After a very uncomfortable conversation occurred between the three of them (With the kitchen staff giggling in the background) Dinner was ready.

Jack and Sally continued to watch over Sora with Santa, while the Boogie trio tailed them and reported back to Oogie Boogie. He seemed pleased with Sora's progress, even though Sora appeared relatively normal.

The week passed in a blur. Finally it was the day before thanksgiving. Sora woke up that morning with a strange headache. It was as if he were in a lucid dream. Everything seamed real, yet unreal. That night, before the Burton's party, Kairi was having one of her own. The theme was 'Indians' and 'Pilgrims' with guests dressed as the former or latter. Roxas and Sora snuck into Kairi's party with Ven's assistance. Ven figured they should have some fun with kids their own age before the party.

They arrived dressed as pilgrims, to a highly offensive native American costumed Kairi. "Like, Hooow, you guys?"

"Hey!" Roxas walked in. Sora walked in after him. 'I don't think any of the tribes dress like that…' The house was full of teenagers as it had been the last time. However, this time Sora had no choice but to feel what they were all feeling. Despite all the laughter, dancing, and drinking, there were bitter feelings swirling all around. He walked straight through the house to the back porch, almost walking right into Riku. "Sora?"

Sora clutched his head. "Ow…"

"You're not high are you?"

"No." Sora sat down on the back porch, getting a weird sense of déjà vu. "I'm on the ground."

"Empath thing again?" Riku asked.

"Uh huh." Sora held his head in his hands. "Usually I can control it, and its just fear. I don't know why it hurts so much."

"Well your parents' party is gonna start in a little while right?" He patted Sora on the head. "You'll be back home before you know it." He peeked through the door. Roxas and Axel were dueling with turkey legs. "I'll stay out here with you, if you like."

"Thank you." Sora said, not looking up. "That'd be nice."

"Riku?"

"How come you're so nice?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because I spent more time watching Mister Rogers than most children."

"No." Sora groaned. "I mean it. Like, you don't seem as cloudy as other people. Like you tell the truth all the time."

" Dunno. It just come naturally I guess."

At eight Kairi's party ended as many of her guests had to go with their families up to Burton Manor. Roxas and Sora left early and changed into formal dinner attire, matching pinstripe suits. Riku and his parents were in attendance, as where Kairi and hers. Axel was also at the party, with no supervision. Refreshments were being served in the hall. After an hour they moved to the bigger dining room. The table could seat a small army.

Sora found the environment a bit stuffy. It was not as bad as Kairi's party, but there were still enough feelings to keep him uneasy. It felt as if there was a constant buzzing in his brain. Instead of dwelling on it, he studied his father's guests. All of his friends looked just like their parents. Riku's mother also had Snow white hair and blue-green eyes. She almost looked to be the same age as her son, which scared Sora a little.

After a few courses, Sora's head began to really swim.

Santa, Jack, and Sally watched as Sora began to sway back and forth over his dinner.

"He doesn't look good." Sally remarked.

"The change is coming soon." Santa Claus said, crossing his arms.

"Maybe we should go get him-Bend the rules a little?" Jack said.

"No." Santa shook his head. "We cannot. All we can do is hope he changes for the better."

Sora blinked several times. It was a little past eleven and guests were starting to leave. Soon only Riku, Kairi and her grandmother, Axel , and Terra's partners were left. Riku's parents had left on 'urgent business'.

Exhausted, Sora tried to cut a slice of cake with a steak knife and cut his hand. "Ow!" It hurt more than it should. And along with it came more emotions from the guests. He stood and wobbled out of the room, with Terra tailing after him.

"Sora." He followed him into the kitchen.

Sora leaned on the counter. "I'm sorry Dad…I didn't mean to…It hurts.."

Blood dripped from a gash on the back of Sora's hand.

Terra took a cold rag and wrapped it around Sora's hand. "Don't worry about that son. Just think happy thoughts while I go get some bandages."

"Okay."

After his hand was wrapped up, Sora returned to the foyer. The remaining guests were grabbing their coats and getting ready to leave.

Sora felt a lot better at that point. He started to wave goodbye to them, just as the clock struck twelve.

Sora immediately felt sick all over again. He clutched his chest and his eyes went wide. The clock rang twelve times for the hour. With each ring Sora felt worse. It was Thanksgiving.

His eyes rolled back as he crumpled to the floor, his body writhing in agony. He rolled around on the floor, screaming. A dark mist wisped around him. His limbs grew big and black until his entire being was filling the room. All of his memories flashed through his mind.

Sora's family and friends watched with horror as he turned into a huge monster.

"That's it." Jack said. "The dark side."


	10. Finale

Shout out to lion5589 for reading my eBook Androngea, you are aaaamaaaaazing!

* * *

A giant monster loomed where Sora, once stood. It's back hit the ceiling, causing a chandelier to break and fall. It's face was a mass of tendrils, with a pair of glowing yellow eyes. It danced with jerky movements, standing over them.

Deep inside the monster, Sora was falling into a deep sleep. He could someone calling him, but they sounded fair away.

"Sora…Sora…Sora…"

Kairi and her Grandmother had both fainted. Roxas was screaming his head off, while his parents held him in their arms. Riku was staring with disbelief. He felt a weird sensation come over him then. 'Don't tell me…I'm…afraid?'

"Sora…Sora…Sora…"

Sora opened his eyes. He was still incased in a dark space, but there was a small source of light. A blonde girl in a white dress. She walked over to him.

"Wake up Sora."

"Huh?"

She reached out to him, and he took her hand.

"You must not dream right now. Go back."

As if on cue, two of his 'dream' friends appeared. The purple cat and the blue panda.

"Oh hey guys." He reached for them. "What's up?"

Instead of answering, they bonked him on the head, hard.

"OW!" Sora yelled. He was laying on the marble floor of the Burton's entrance.

His skin was now pale, and fangs protruded from his mouth. His wings had returned, and his limbs grew skinny. His suit was torn, but covered the right places, and suited him better this way.

Sora held his head in his hands. "Ow…that hurt…" He looked at his reflection on the floor. "Hey! I'm back to normal!" Instead of getting up, he used his wings to pull him up into a standing position. "Hey Dad-"

Terra, Aqua and Roxas were hiding behind a overturned couch in the sitting room. Two of the servants were brandishing guns and had them pointed at him. Riku and Axel had Kairi and her grandmother on their backs. They all had terrified looks on their faces.

Sora looked around. Although they had been by foyer, they were now on the second floor, in the sitting room. All the furniture was overturned, and there were claw marks on the floor. The light fixtures had all been smashed. It was as if a horrifying monster had attacked. And Sora realized quickly, that he had been the monster. "What…did I do?"

"Get out." The voice had sounded strained and cruel, but Sora knew it was Terra talking. His attention turned back to Terra, who was shielding Aqua and Roxas from his view. Roxas peeked at him nervously from behind his father's large shoulder.

Sora reached for them. "I-"

"GET OUT!" Terra roared, causing Sora to jump back.

He took another step back and then another, tears prickled at his eyes and he turned and ran, back down the stairs and out of the house.

"Wait." It took Riku a minute to realize he had spoken. "Wait!" He yelled, running after him. "Sora!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran off to Boogie as soon as they saw Sora change back.

Boogie was delighted. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get him!"

Riku ran after Sora's retreating form. It was dark, but he could make Sora out under the moon's light. Sora ran further and faster, deep into the trees behind the Burton house. Riku continued to call for him, but Sora wasn't listening. Riku was certain they would run out of trees soon, as the Burton house was up on a hill. However the trees continued, and soon grew taller and narrower. He tripped, hit the cold ground, and sat up. Riku looked around. All the trees looked identical, with not one difference on them.

'Why does this seem familiar?' Riku thought. Then he remembered what Sora had once said.

"_When you leave one world to visit another, you must walk through the forest in-between. We call it The Hinterlands. As long as you know where you want to go, it will lead you there."_

"Right…" Riku stood and dusted off his pants. "Well. I want to see Sora, so I'll concentrate on that." He continued to walk forward, calling for Sora until he reached a clearing. There he found the trees with doors, each decorated for a holiday. He stopped in front of the pumpkin door.

"Ten buck says he's in here." He turned the door and entered the dark tunnel. Riku walked for what felt like an hour before he realized the darkness had retreated and he was in a forest again. The woods led to a muddy trail, which led to pavement, and finally, the gated community that was Halloween town. He walked past the iron gate and stopped. The usual group had gathered in Guillotine Square. Ghosts wafted around, a witch flew by on her broom. The Doctor had opened his head, scratched his brain and pointed forward, for his wife to push him.

Despite all this, Riku wasn't very scared, he was more confused. 'Well…' He thought. 'What did I expect this place to look like?'

A ghost dog wafted past him. He glanced at its nose and realized it had to be zero, the dog Sora had told him about. "Zero." He called, and the dog wafted back to him, barking. "Zero…can you tell me where Sora is?"

The dog barked, and sped away, leaving Riku to chase after it. "Wait!"Zero led him past the cemetery and up to Curly hill. At The top, Sora was hugging his knees and staring up at the large moon. He glanced down the hill when he heard Zero barking. "Zer- Ah! Riku!" He stood and walked up to the curled tip, which bent down for him and he hopped off, hovering in front of Riku. "What are you doing here? How do you even…?"

Riku shrugged. "Not really sure how I made it here, but I figured I should. I mean, you didn't even say goodbye."

"Huh?" Sora stopped hovering, and stood. "Oh…" He looked down at the ground. "I messed stuff up, didn't I?"

Riku patted him on the head. "But you didn't mean to, right?"

He pulled Sora to him, and Sora leaned his head on Riku's shoulder. "No…I didn't mean to. I don't even know what happened.""You turned into a giant monster and followed us up the stairs. No one was hurt, but you kinda trashed the place."

"Oh. I don't remember."

"You should probably come back to apologize."

Sora shook his head. "I don't think they'll want to see me." Riku shivered and Sora pulled away. "Are you cold?"

" A little." Riku rubbed his shoulders. He had come out of the house in just his suit.

"You can borrow a jacket." Sora took his hand. " Come on, we'll go to my house."

Sora led Riku to the Skellington house. A skeleton trio played jazz music outside their door. They entered the house.

"Uncle Jack!" Sora called. "Uncle Jack, Aunt Sally !" No one answered.

Riku looked around. 'It looks haunted…' He looked back at Sora. 'But it fits him perfectly.' Sora guided him to the living room. "I'll get a jacket. Do you want something to eat? The only thing I can give you is Halloween candy. I'm pretty sure everything else is poisonous."

"I'm alright." Riku sat down on the musty couch.

Sora disappeared into a dark spot of the room. Zero followed him.

Sora appeared again just as the front door opened.

"Sora?" A sing-song voice called. It was Jack.

"Uncle Jack! Aunt Sally!"

Sora ran to them and Sally squeezed him tight. "Oh Sora, I was so worried!"

Her right arm popped off. "Ooh! I've worried myself to pieces!"

Sora reach for her right hand. "I got it." He took a needle from behind his ear and stitched her arm back on.

Jack peered down at Riku. "Well, hello."

Riku stood. "Hello sir, Mister Pumpkin King."

The king of Halloween laughed. "Call me Jack." He held out his hand.

Riku shook the thin bones. "I'm Riku Depp, Sora's friend."

"We saw everything in Santa's snow globe." Sally said. "Are you alright Sora?"

"Uh huh." Sora shrugged. "I'm okay."

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry that things happened that way Sora.""it's okay. At least I got to meet them, even if they'll probably never want to see me again."

Riku shrugged on the grey jacket Sora had given him. "I'm not so sure. Maybe they'll need a chance to cool down…And fix their house."

Sora looked down on the floor. "I don't know…"

Sally looked at the large grandfather clock in the corner. "Perhaps you should take Riku back to the Hinterlands. We don't want him to get back too late."

"That's true." Sora nodded. "Let's go back Riku."

The walk back through the woods was quiet. Zero darted in-between trees as they walked. The soon came to a deep fog.

"If you keep walking, you'll wind up home." Sora said.

"Mmhm." Riku stared ahead. "You know Sora…"

"Huh?"

"Your family may not want you around, but." He turned to face him. "You can visit me anytime you want."

"Really?" Sora smiled, then looked at the ground. "You're not...afraid of me?"

Riku grinned. "Nope. You'll have to try a lot harder if you want to scare me."

Sora grinned back at him. For once he was glad Riku was a scowl.

It would have been a nice moment, had they not seen A bathtub dart through the trees. The boogie trio rode inside, with Roxas in a brown sack, his head stuck out of the top.

"Roxas!" Sora yelled. "Hey! Come back here!" Sora turned to run after them,"Who the heck were they?" Riku asked.

"Forget about them." Sora said. "You head home, I'll go get Roxas."

He flew after the fleeing bathtub.

Riku looked unsure for a moment, but then continued to walk into the fog.

"HEY!" Sora yelled. "COME BACK HERE!" He shook his hand and a long weapon appeared in it. The hilt featured appendages like bat wings. While the weapon was long like a sword it's tip featured a piece that also looked like a bat. If you squinted, the whole thing sort of looked like…a key. He called it Pumpkin Head.

Sora began to swing the key-like-thing back and forth. Balls of fire flew in the bathtubs's direction. The trio screeched and laughed. Roxas continued to scream. "If that's Sora-" Barrel said, "Then who is this guy?"

"Dunno." Shock shrugged. "But he's following us, so let's go!" Sora followed them to a theatre on the edge of forest, away from the town. He floated down to the ground. The building looked even more run down than his own. Parts of the roof were missing, and the door was on one hinge. Before he could reach it however, monsters popped out of the ground.

"Wight Knights…" Sora murmured. Wight Knights were monsters that appeared on the outskirts of Halloween town, along with other things. Unlike the inhabitants of the town, these never spoke and attacked at random. They were part of the reason that there was a barrier around the town.

He slashed through the monsters with ease and the turned into dust, causing tiny hearts to float up and away. "I'll never understand why they do that." Sora said as he headed inside. There he found what he was looking for, and someone he never wanted to see…Oogie Boogie.

The boogie trio stood giggling in front of their boss, a newly sewn together Boogeyman, onstage. Roxas was trapped in a strange monster that resembled a cage. It had a head with two screws on either side, and a bird cage for a body. The strange creature had long skinny arms with huge gloved claws. The creature was hanging from a chain on a pulley. There were several empty cages hanging from the ceiling.

"What is that thing?" Sora said.

"My new buddy." Oogie replied. "We call him prison keeper." Boogie smiled and bugs crawled out of his mouth.

"I don't understand…" Sora crossed his arms. "I've only ever seen you in dreams. How did you get out?"

"I told you before." Oogie laughed. "You let me out! You entered the darkness, and left the door wiiiiiide open!"Sora shook his head. "N-No! That still doesn't explain it…I've only ever seen you in my dreams."

"Yes." Boogie smiled wider. "And as you traveled, I traveled, until eventually I found a way out through the back of your mind. You're far too open minded boy!" His laugh sent odd shivers down his spine.

"Give Roxas back Boogie, or else."

Boogie shook his head. "I don't think you're in the position for giving orders." Boogie raised his arm. "Oh boys!" More Wight Knights popped up from the floor, along with strange black creatures with glowing eyes. "I brought some friends back from the darkness."

"Perfect." Sora took a stance, holding his Pumpkin Head ready.

'I have to get Roxas out of here, before Thanksgiving is over.'

Minutes ticked by, Sora cut through monster after monster but more and more popped up out of the floor.

'Where are they coming from?' Sora thought, as he set another one on fire. 'If I could just cut off the source-' That's when he saw it-a glowing object in a corner of the room. Oogie's little henchmen were guarding it. Each item it shimmered, more monsters appeared.

'I have to destroy that thing, but how? I need to draw them away from it and get past Boogie. How can I-'

A cage dropped from the ceiling and crashed on Boogie head.

"What the-" Oogie looked up.

Up in the eaves was Riku. "Sup ?"

"Riku!" Sora said in disbelief. "How did you-"

"Don't ask." Riku said. "I walked for like, forever, and found myself up here." He dropped another cage, this one nearly hit the trio. They scattered away from the glowing orb.

"You fools!" Boogie bellowed.

'Now's my chance!' Sora flew as fast as he could, flinging fireballs at the strange object. It began to crack and with two strokes, it exploded into powdery dust.

"Fools! Fools! Fools!" Boogie yelled. The monsters began to disappear.

The Theater's door opened again. This time it was Jack and Sally.

"What's going on here?" Jack said, walking over to the stage. "Boogie!"

"Oh, great The Pumpkin King." Boogie growled. "You're too late Jack. Another hour or so and I'll have a changeling of my own!"

"Oh no you don't." Sora pointed his Pumpkin Head at Boogie.

Jack waved a bony hand. "I'll handle this, Sora." He walked closer and closer to them, growing larger and lager with every step. Riku scramble down from the eaves. Finally, Jack was so huge that he knocked the roof off the building. Jack snatched Oogie Boogie up and tossed him so far he went straight through the Hinterlands, the fog, and back into the unending abyss from whence he first came. Jack shrank back down to regular size. Sora sliced the prison keeper open, grabbing Roxas and setting him down on the floor.

Riku made his way to the stage. "I have to admit, that was creepy."

"Are you okay Roxas?" Sora asked.

Roxas, shaken, didn't say a word.

Riku looked up at the starry sky. "What did Ooogie mean when he said a hour?"

"It's almost the next day." Jack said. "Time gets jumbly between the worlds. The proper time only happens I the world that corresponds with the nearest holiday."

"So time is quicker in Halloween town right now than it is in Thanksgiving." Sora explained. "We have to get you guys back as soon as possible."

"I can give you all a lift…" Jack said.

"No thank you sir." Riku shuddered. "We'll make it."The three of the them walked back through the Hinterlands, and through the fog. Before Roxas had noticed, they were back on the Burton's hill.

Terra, Ventus, and Aqua were walking around, calling his name. "Roxas! Roxas!"

"Mom?" Roxas answered, his voice squeaking. "Dad?"

Terra's flashlight landed on the forms of Sora, Roxas, and Riku, appearing out of nowhere.

"Roxas!" Terra yelled.

Roxas ran to him. "Dad!"

Aqua dropped her flashlight and rand towards them. "ROXAS!"

Sora kept his distance.

"What happened?" Terra asked. " Those things! They grabbed you, and-""I…was…okay." He looked to where his brother stood. "Sora saved me from the Boogeyman."

Terra looked at Sora, who retreated two steps. "Is that true?"

Riku looked back at Terra, nodding.

Sora clenched his fists and tried to look Terra in the eye. "Yes." He swallowed hard, searching for the right words. "I'm sorry! I still don't remember what I did, but I know it was wrong. I don't know what happened, but I promise that I won't come back-"

Aqua smoothed down Roxas' hair. "The Boogeyman again."

Terra nodded. "That annoying bastard used to bother Ven too."

Ventus chuckled nervously. "Hey now, don't bring up old memories."

Sora sighed. He turned to walk away.

"Sora." Terra said, sternly.

Sora froze. "Yes?" He replied, not turning around.

"We'll see you on Christmas eve." He said flatly.

Aqua laughed.

"What?" Sora said, dumbfounded.

"No!" Roxas said. "He can come see us on Hanukkah! That happens before Christmas… right?"

Aqua nodded. "Yes it does. You'll come visit, won't you Sora?"

"But I messed up the house." Sora said.

"But you didn't mean to." Riku added.

"No.. I didn't. B-But-"

"Not buts." Terra said, crossing his arms. "You're coming to visit as soon as you can. Understand?"

Tears welled up in Sora's eyes and he rubbed them away. "Yes!"

* * *

"I couldn't get him." Oogie said.

A tan bald man with tawny eyes laughed. "Oh, there will be other chances. Ven was a failed attempt as well." He shook his head. "We have other concerns right now…like that Noel."

* * *

AAAAAAAAnd that's a wrap! The next story takes place during Hannukkah and Christmas… but I guess I'm cutting it close. Does anyone want to read a Christmas story after Christmas? Did you like this one? Reviews please! Honest opinions!

-I felt like being silly here only because Disney also owns Marvel and therefore, Kingdom Hearts could have a Avengers level.


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